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The late Chicago Espresso was a gem–directly across the street from the Kedzie Brown Line station and spitting distance from some of the best middle eastern groceries and restaurants in the city. It brewed Intelligentsia beans and was the only place in the neighborhood to get a decent cup of joe. Despite that, it was a sleepy little place and the fact that it opened one block north of a Starbucks made me worry. When it died in the middle of the Kedzie station renovation it seemed to validate all the fears independent business owners had about both the CTA revamp and Big Coffee.
The couple, who live in the neighborhood, have local artists’ work on the walls, free wi-fi, about a dozen loose leaf teas, and some pastries baked by Story himself. But where they really excel is the selection of organic and fair trade coffees, some from more rigorous programs like the Cafe Feminino Foundation, which routes money directly to plantations owned and operated by women.
